Many
reenactors portraying the confederate soldier equip themselves for
campaign based on the description from Carlton McCarthy's book, Detailed
Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia 1861-1865.
In his oft quoted book , McCarthy said: "Reduced to a minimum,
the private soldier consisted of one man, one hat, one jacket, one shirt, one
pair of pants, one pair of drawers, one pair of shoes, and one pair of socks.
His baggage was one blanket, one rubber blanket, and one haversack."
In the reenactor world, this "baggage" became the ubiquitous blanket
roll used by a majority of the Rebs and many of the Yanks with a western theater
impression. The question I would like to pose is this: " Is the
lack of knapsacks among reenactors the perpetuation of a myth?"

If you use
McCarthy's rememberances as a basis for your impression, you need to be aware of
one important fact - Mr. McCarthy was an artilleryman. It could be
that he used his own experience within an Army of Northern Virginia
artillery unit to develop that description. It may be that neither he nor
or his comrades had a need for knapsacks as the wagons and horses in the
artillery provided all of the conveyance required to move their possessions.
In fact, McCarthy makes reference to an incident on page 164 of his book that
reads: " He was originally an infantryman, recently transferred to
artillery, and therefore wore a small knapsack, as infantrymen did". The
infantryman in the Army of Tennessee (AoT) would fall in the same category.
On occasion he and or his possessions might be moved by train or wagon but most
of the time he would carry all of his issued equipment, rations, extra clothing,
and personal effects. In contrast to Carlton McCarthy's recollections,
let's look at some AoT accounts.

Sam R. Watkins,
Private C.S.A., and member of the First Tennessee Regiment, Army of Tennessee,
makes numerous references to the knapsack in his book, "CO.
AYTCH" A Side Show of the Big Show. References
appear on pages 97, 104, 116, and 208 to the use of knapsacks by Pvt.
Watkins and his comrades from enlistment through surrender of the unit in North
Carolina in 1865.

In the They
Bore Every Burden, History of the 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment,
Sergeant Ambrose Doss, wrote in a January 18 1863 letter to his wife:
"...Sarah i was from the time that we left camps we was some 20 days tell
we got back to whear i cold (could) get my knapsack...".

Private Abram M.
Glazener, Co I, 18th Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Clayton's Brigade,
Stewart's Division, Army of Tennessee, wrote on 7 July 1863: " I thought
the enemy might get me (but) I would do all I could to make my escape. I
left my knapsack for to be carried up on the cars. I have just got it
today, I have lost onething (nothing or everything) but my blanket one pair of
socks". Pvt. Glazener was 38 years old when he enlisted on 10
February 1863 and was killed at Chickamauga on 19 September 1863. His
letters are available on the internet at http://www.mindspring.com/~spbarber429/glazener.htm.

Inspection reports
from the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion indicate that in September
1864, the 5th Kentucky Infantry of the "Orphan" Brigade was short only
5 knapsacks for the entire regiment. This was after hard marching and
fighting during the Atlanta campaign.

In addition to the
above references, Mr. Jim Ogden, Historian for the Chickamauga and Chattanooga
National Military Park, recommends in his Living
History Guidelines, The Confederate Impression, that
as many as two-thirds of the Confederate reenactors in a unit carry knapsacks.

Based on soldier
accounts and research by professional historians, I think a strong case could be
made for the inclusion of more knapsacks in our personal and unit impressions.
In addition to the historical perspective, I've found that the knapsack is also
a useful piece of gear to have in a campaign or garrison environment. On
campaign it is much easier to retrieve needed items from a knapsack than from a
blanket roll. It also protects the contents better and makes a passable
pillow at night. With some getting used to, you may even find that its
more comfortable to wear than the blanket roll. At a garrison event it's
handy for carrying in all of the extra items that reenactors carry in the
heavier wooden camp box.

If you decide to
give the knapsack a try, I recommend you pack light for your Confederate or
Union impression. A wool blanket, shelter half, rubber blanket, extra
clothing, small frying pan, housewife, towel, rations that won't fit in
the haversack, and other small articles are all you should carry. When
campaigning "less is better".